


3 times Clary doesn't know it's a date

by kirargent



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, 5+1 Things, Canon Universe, F/F, Misunderstandings, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 18:42:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6090460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirargent/pseuds/kirargent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...and one time she does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	3 times Clary doesn't know it's a date

**Author's Note:**

> "5 times Clary didn't realize she and Isabelle were on a date & one time she does" requested by [philgordons](http://philgordons.tumblr.com/).
> 
> me: takes that obnoxious "not-used-to-other-girls" thing from calzone cats & applies it to uber-sapphic Isabelle to get an Izzy who loves girls but has NO IDEA HOW TO DATE THEM. anyway. hope u enjoy this.
> 
> (Fic incorporates elements from both the book and the show; I believe you'll be able to understand everything as a fan of only one or the other. No significant book spoilers I don't think.)

 

**I.**

In the midst of the current chaos that is Clary's life—an uncovered secret ancestry; a tall tale from Luke about his past with her mother and his current life as leader of a pack of werewolves; demons everywhere; an evil father she just learned about; a long-lost brother; her best friend developing a sudden fascination with the vampire headquarters downtown ever since being taken hostage; a chase against the bad guys for the Mortal Cup—a late Saturday morning breakfast at a quaint little diner is just what Clary needs.

She digs into her stack of pancakes with ferocity, stopping to give Isabelle a bashful smile across the table only after she's stuffed several bites into her mouth and swallowed them nearly whole.

She makes herself chew and swallow before she speaks. “Thanks for inviting me out to breakfast. This is really good,” she says, her cheeks warm.

Isabelle takes a sip of her smoothie, smiling around the red straw in her mouth. “Taki's has the best food in the city,” she says. “Ask anyone.”

“Ask any Shadowhunter or Downworlder, you mean,” says Clary. “I thought I was a mundane until just recently, remember?”

“Of course,” says Isabelle. She stirs her smoothie idly. “I keep forgetting.” Her smile makes her nose crinkle. “You're adapting so well.”

Clary feels heat creep into her cheeks at the warm twinkle in Isabelle's dark eyes. She ducks her head, focusing on cutting off a bite of pancake with her fork.

“Um,” she says. “Izzy—really, thank you for this.” She meets Isabelle's eyes again, smiling a little. Until very recently, Clary's friendships pretty much began and ended with her mother, Luke, and Simon. In her life, she's not sure she's really had a female friend like she thinks she now has in Isabelle—supportive, Clary's own age, always eager to talk about makeup.

Before she met Isabelle, she wouldn't have said that anything was missing from her life. But now that Izzy and her fierceness and her effervescent smiles and her delicate laughter are a part of Clary's life—oh, gosh. Clary doesn't think she could ever go back.

“Everything's been a little... overwhelming. This is a really nice break.”

Isabelle grins at her, playing with her straw with her fingertips. “Of course, Clary,” she says. She sobers her expression. “Hey,” she says. Face solemn, she pushes her smoothie glass across the table toward Clary. “You have to taste this. Apricot-plum with wildflower honey. It's delicious.” She smiles one of Clary's favorite smiles, the one that creases the skin around her eyes with laughter lines, her dark irises glittering.

Smiling shyly, Clary leans forward to take a sip, her chest feeling warm with immense gratitude for the new friend she's found.

 

 

**II.**

Isabelle's skin tingles pleasantly all over as she and Clary make their way to Meliorn's residence away from the Seelie Court. The entrance to his dwelling is a little more hospitable than that to the Seelie Court: no drenching yourself in a pond, just pushing through a billowy, cream-colored curtain.

Isabelle is thrilled that Clary so readily agreed to accompany her to talk with Meliorn.

After their date at Taki's for breakfast earlier in the week went so well, Isabelle asked her if she wanted to come along when her father suggested she meet with her Seelie connections to discuss again their change of loyalties. It's no diner, but the walk there was pleasant, the sun high in the sky and the backs of Isabelle's fingers brushing Clary's every few steps.

Isabelle hasn't really dated a girl seriously before, much less a mundie, so she doesn't know exactly what Clary might be used to in a relationship—but Isabelle thinks she's doing all right so far. Their breakfast date was perfect, and as far as Isabelle can tell, this one is going well, too.

“So he's a _faerie_ ,” Clary says, the fourth time now that she's clarified.

“Yes,” Isabelle says. They are nearly to Meliorn's glamoured home in the middle of the extensive field. Isabelle almost wishes that they weren't nearly there, so that she could continue to walk alongside Clary in the pleasant outdoor air. Clary's loosely curled hair is back in a ponytail, which Isabelle loves for the way it displays her soft skin and the dark Mark on her neck, and for the way it makes the small girl look ready to leap into anything, hair back and mouth determined.

Isabelle has already begun to adore Clary's inner fire in the short time they've known each other. She is outspoken and unapologetic, and kind, but easy to provoke into anger.

Which could pose a problem with the Seelies, Isabelle supposes.

“The Fair Folk are part angel, part demon,” she tells Clary, glancing at her briefly. “They can't lie, but they're very clever, so you have to be careful.” She stops walking and smiles at Clary. “And yes, I used to see Meliorn from time to time.”

Clary's eyes are wide.

Isabelle giggles. “But don't be jealous. This is just a diplomatic mission.”

“Right,” Clary says, nodding determinedly. “Fair Folk. Angel and demon, can't lie, but super tricky, so watch it.”

Isabelle beams. “You've got it,” she says proudly.

Lacing her fingers with Clary's, Isabelle pulls her the rest of the distance to Meliorn's canopied dwelling and sweeps aside the curtain to allow Clary through.

 

 

**III.**

Isabelle has a shaky lead on a demon underling who might have information on Valentine's whereabouts. The lead is unverified, so Alec is uninterested in expending Clave resources to investigate—but Isabelle is undeterred.

She leans in the doorway of Clary's room at the Institute when she asks if Clary would like to accompany her to the party at which she expects to apprehend the demon.

“We'd be working, of course,” she says, tilting her head. Her long hair spills across her shoulder, dark and soft-looking. Clary has found herself wanting to tangle her hands in it more and more frequently, of late.

Swallowing, she focuses on Isabelle's words.

“But it's still a party! I think you're ready to be my backup as well as my date,” she tells Clary, smiling widely. “Interested?”

Clary's cheeks flush. She knows Isabelle doesn't mean 'date' in the sense that Clary is beginning to think she wants her to mean it. Isabelle just means her friend, her clubbing buddy. Clary knows this, but apparently the blush burning in her cheeks doesn't get the message.

She ducks her head, rubbing at the back of her neck. “Um. Sure, okay. Just let me get changed.”

“Great!” Isabelle says, and trots from the room.

Clary meets Isabelle at the door of the Institute once she's put on a green dress that falls somewhere between normal-Clary and normal-Isabelle clothing on a level of tightness and skimpiness.

“You look great,” Isabelle purrs, and Clary feels her cheeks flush again.

“Thanks,” she murmurs. “You, too.”

Isabelle does look great, as usual. Her dress is pale gold, swooping crazily low down her back, held up by a delicate halter.

“You flatter,” she says to Clary, her smile wide, and hails them a cab while Clary's heart thunders in her chest.

They slide side-by-side into the back of the cab; their bare knees just touch. Clary's mouth feels dry. She clutches her stele, tucked inside a small handbag, tightly.

 _This will be fine_ , she tells herself. She's just Isabelle's backup. This is just a Shadowhunter mission. That's what she should be worried about: getting violently torn apart by a demon. Not about staring too much at Isabelle's strong, graceful legs.

Isabelle takes her by the hand to help her out of the cab, and Clary swallows, her pulse thrumming quickly in her throat.

“Ready to kick some ass?” Isabelle asks, her eyes dancing with her perpetual amusement.

Clary takes a breath, squaring her shoulders. “Yeah,” she says, nodding.

Isabelle laughs lightly, squeezing Clary's hand. “You're so cute,” she says happily.

Her cheeks flaming as bright as her hair, Clary follows Isabelle into the club.

 

**+I.**

Isabelle smooths her short skirt, hardly able to keep a smile from her face.

They're in a dark, sticky mundie movie theater, a place that's entirely unfamiliar to Isabelle. But Clary is beside her, keeps giving her shy smiles, so Isabelle is pleased.

She doesn't know why Clary looked so nervous when she asked Isabelle on this movie date—they've been dating for almost two weeks now, since Clary first accepted her invitation to breakfast at Taki's. It was adorable, regardless of whether it was strange: blushy is a cute look on Clary.

But then, Isabelle thinks most things are cute, on Clary.

“So—what are we seeing, again?” she whispers to Clary, who's sitting beside her in this weird line of armed chairs.

Clary bites her lip, her eyes still on the previews on the big screen. “It's—gosh. Um. It's about space? And... fighting?” She shakes her head. “You'll like it. It's nothing like the Shadow World, and it's not like the mundane world, either. It's just... fun.” She flashes Isabelle a smile, her teeth bright in the dark theater.

Isabelle smiles back at her, her gaze lingering on Clary long after Clary's attention shifts back to the screen.

“So, this is a traditional mundie date?” she whispers.

Clary glances at her. “Yep. Dinner-and-a-movie is a pretty standard date.”

“Huh,” says Isabelle. She narrows her eyes. “What other kinds of things do mundies do?”

She listens as Clary tells her about the romantic traditions of presenting your lover with chocolates and flowers, of taking your date to museums and nice dinners and long, quiet walks. Clary tells her that mundies often buy jewelry for each other, and Isabelle thinks that she likes that idea especially.

She makes mental note of each and every tradition though, regardless of which she thinks she likes best. She's going to treat Clary to everything her mundie girlfriend expects. _And_ she'll take her demon-hunting.

Isabelle leans back in her seat, smiling a little to herself.

She's glad things are going so well.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [also on tumblr](http://lesbianlightwood.tumblr.com/post/139832099236/re-shadowhunters-prompts-5-times-clary)
> 
> Edit 2/24: If you want to read the first section from Izzy's POV check [here](http://lesbianlightwood.tumblr.com/post/139933852436/pov)!


End file.
